Politics

The economic crisis in Europe’s Eurozone, the grouping of more than 20 countries in Europe that use the euro as their means of currency, is worsening, and Emory University political science professor and Europe expert Thomas D. Lancaster says the brunt of the financial burden falls on one country, Germany. The main question now is how much longer are they willing to pay.

“They wouldn’t overtly refuse to pay immediately because that would bring the Eurozone down,” Lancaster explains. “What is clear within the context of the Eurozone and the European Union, fiscal policy has to be addressed. And, it’s very, very clear that the vast majority of people in Germany… are clearly getting tired of this.”

While Germany has already helped bail out Greece, Ireland and Portugal, the problem appears to be widening. Italy, Spain and France may be next in line.

Emory business and finance professor Jeff Rosensweig says there are three things business leaders want from President Obama to spur hiring: deregulation, tax reform and a more positive message.

“We’re at a time now when the stock market has fallen, the economy seems to be slowing down, [the government is] worried about the problems in Europe with their debt problem,” Rosensweig says. “It seems like a more positive message has to come from the president” that will “rally the people to gain some confidence and go out there and compete.”

Rosensweig is director of the Global Perspectives Program at Goizueta Business School and is a frequent keynote speaker about international business. Prior to joining Emory, he was the senior international economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.

ATLANTA -- Seven people have been appointed to a newly created board to look into complaints about state and local officials failing to comply with state laws related to immigration.

The Immigration Enforcement Review Board was created by the state's tough new law targeting illegal immigration.

Appointed by Gov. Nathan Deal are Americans for Immigration Control spokesman Phil Kent, former Fulton County GOP chairman Shawn Hanley and lawyer Ben Vinson. Appointed by Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle are Dallas Mayor Boyd Austin and Coweta County Sheriff Mike Yeager. Appointed by House Speaker David Ralston are lawyer Robert Mumford and Colquitt County Commissioner Terry Clark.

The board will have the power to investigate complaints, hold hearings, subpoena documents and witnesses, and take disciplinary action.

ATLANTA -- With Georgia's unemployment rate remaining in double digits, 11Alive journalists are busy digging into three programs that promised to create jobs.

One of them is the federal stimulus program.

According to the state's Stimulus Accountability website, the federal government has granted Georgia approximately $3.2 billion in stimulus funds. Georgia's unemployment rate was around 8.8 percent just prior to the start of the stimulus program. Two years later, unemployment has risen to the current rate of 10.1 percent.

Where are the stimulus jobs?

In Paulding County, the stimulus program is getting mixed reviews.

Paulding County has received approximately $46 million in federal stimulus funds. The unemployment rate there was 6 percent in 2008 before the stimulus program. Unemployment in Paulding has risen to its current rate of 10.6 percent.

Submitted by LA Thomas, PR Manager, City of Atlanta, Dept. of Planning & Comm. Development

Friday, August 26th, 2011, 8:18am

The City of Atlanta Department of Planning and Community Development and the Office of Parks has conducted the first comprehensive inventory of the city’s publicly-owned downtown trees. The inventory included an assessment of the trees along streets, boulevards, parks, and public spaces in the downtown area. The tree inventory will provide information about the species, size, quality, and condition of public trees in downtown Atlanta.

Information from the inventory will help establish management priorities by:

identifying trees that need to be pruned or removed,

revealing any systemic problems with pests or disease,

identifying the distribution of tree species with size, height, and other characteristics, and